UT's Powers says he's focused on long-term goals

By Jeremy Roebuck :
April 6, 2013
: Updated: April 7, 2013 12:28am

University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers speaks to reporters and editors attending the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors luncheon at the St. Anthony Hotel.

Photo By Luis Rios/San Antonio Express-News

University of Texas President William Powers speaks to reporters and editors attending the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors luncheon at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Photo By Luis Rios/San Antonio Express-News

University of Texas President William Powers speaks to reporters and editors attending the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors luncheon at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Photo By Luis Rios/San Antonio Express-News

University of Texas President William Powers speaks to reporters and editors attending the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors luncheon at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Photo By Luis Rios/San Antonio Express-News

University of Texas President William Powers is under fire from members of the UT System Board of Regents, but lawmakers have rallied to support him.

University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers deflected questions Saturday about his increasingly contentious relationship with members of his school's governing board and said he remains focused on day-to-day business despite questions about his future.

“I try not to be a source of friction,” he told reporters after addressing the annual Texas Associated Press Managing Editors convention in San Antonio. “I'll leave the characterizations to other people.”

And as Powers held forth Saturday on topics ranging from the affordability of higher education to the future of his university's affirmative action admissions policies, he continued to say as little as possible on the subject of his own job security.

“The day-to-day debate is a heated one, and it often includes personalities — including mine,” he said. “But I want to talk about long-term tectonic shifts for the university.”

Powers, who has led the UT system's flagship campus since 2006, has become a frequent punching bag for some university regents, who are unhappy with his reluctance to embrace initiatives backed by Gov. Rick Perry and certain conservative groups.

The infighting has drawn attention from state lawmakers in recent weeks and led some to conclude that a faction of the board wants to oust him from his job.

In February, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst delivered an impassioned defense of Powers from the Capitol floor and accused his detractors of “character assassination.” More recently, lawmakers have backed plans to limit the regents' powers to fire university heads and spend money on internal campus investigations.

Still, despite the tumult, Powers said much remains to be done as academia enters an age of new higher-education funding and expanding technological possibilities.

He spoke Saturday of competing in an ever-growing marketplace of college options and technological advancements.

“We need to change, but we need to be very careful that we preserve our core mission,” he said.

Asked about rising college costs and a goal espoused by Perry to offer $10,000 degree plans, Powers said while he supports the idea in theory, he considered it unlikely his campus would ever be able to offer such low-cost programs to all of its students.

“It's not an attainable goal,” he said.

But whether he will survive to guide his through those challenges, remains a question Powers said he tries not to think much about.

“I'm going to go back on Monday and make the university a better place,” he said. “It's a big university. It's critical that we continue to make progress.”